strtod:

Synopsis: Convert string to decimal.

Syntax:	strtod ( STR )

Description:

	The strtod functions converts its argument, STR, from string
	class to numeric class. Strtod stands for STRing TO Decimal.

	Strtod will return a NaN (Not a Number) if it cannot recognize
	a string, or an element of a string matrix, as a number.

